Dealing with Purposes in Intercultural Communication

Revista Alicantina de Estudios Ingleses 14 (2001): 151-166
Dealing with Purposes in Intercultural Communication:
Some Methodological Considerations
Christiane Nord
Magdeburg / Germany
Christiane. Nord@Fachkommunikation. FH-Magdeburg. DE
0. Preliminary remarks
According to functional theories of translatíon, translatiag is regarded as a "purposeful
activity" (cf. Nord, 1997). This means that a translatíon process does not "happen" by itself.
It is a communicative action carried out by an expert in intercultural communication (the
translator), playing the role of text producer and aiming at some communicative purpose.
Communicative purposes are directed at other people who are playing the role of receivers.
Communication takes place through a médium and in situations that are limited in time and
place. Each specific situation determines what and how people communicate, and it is
changed by people communicating. Situations are not universal but are embedded in a
cultural habitat, wbich in turn conditions the situation.
In translatíon, the translator deals with a source text produced under source-culture
conditions for a source-culture audience. What is said and how it is said was deterrnined by
the author's communicative purposes and his or her assessment of thé situation for wbich
it was intended. The translatíon, however, will be used in a different situation deterrnined
by target-culture conditions. It is different with regard to time and place (except in
simultaneous interpreting), sometimes with regard to médium (the translatíon of Saint Paul' s
/effertotheCorinthiansispublishedinatooitcalled "TheNewTestament"), and definitely
with regard to the addressed audience (e.g., their general and cultural knowledge, there
sociocultural background, their valué systems and world view).
If the functionality of a text is deterrnined by these extratextual or pragmatic factors, it
is obvious that in order to make a source-culture text work in a target-culture situation the
translator's activity involves more than just a "replacement of textual material in one
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language (SL) by equivalent material in another language", as Catford put it more than
thirty-five years ago (Catford, 1965:20). The meaning or function of a text is not something
inherent in the linguistic signs; it cannot simply be extracted by anyone who knows trie
code. A text ist made meaningful by its receiver and for its receiver. Different receivers (or
even the same receiver at different times) find different meanings in the same lingusitic
aterial offered by the text. We might even say that a "text" is as many texts as there are
receivers ofit.
Somebody who commissions a translation and is willing to pay some (although generally
too litúe) money for it, usually has some purpose in mind for which the target text is needed.
Therefore, the translator —like any other text producer — analyses the pragmatics of the
(prospective) target situation before deciding on what to say (i.e. how to rearrange the
information given in the source) and how to say it (i.e. what linguistic or even non-linguistic
devices to use in order to make the text fit for the client's purpose).
Every translation process is guided by the communicative purposes the target text is
supposed to achieve in the target culture. This is a very simple principie. But how can we
deal with these purposes? How do we define a communicative purpose? Can we find
categories or types of purpose? What are the conditions for the transfer of purposes across
a linguistic and cultural barrier? In the following sections, I will try to answer these
questions. After explaining my concept of communicative purposes and functions (section
1), I will propose a four-function model to be used in the translation class (section 2). We
will see how the basic functions (and their respective sub-functions work in intra and
intercultural communication and what consequences can be derived from the model for
translation practice and training (section 3). To illustrate the model, I will use a few
examples taken from a new Germán translation of the New Testament (Berger & Nord,
1999), which will be contrasted with the classical English King James Versión and the
Spanish translation by Nácar & Colunga (1975).
1. Purposes and Functions in Communication
The basic theory behind modern functionalist approaches to translation is Skopostheorie
(Vermeer, 1978). Skopos is a Greek word for "purpose". In the theory, skopos usually
refers to the communicative purpose of the translational action. To say that an action has a
purpose is to presuppose the existence of free will and a choice between at least two possible
forrns of behaviour. This means that if in a given translation assignment there are two (or
more) possible ways of translating the source text (or any of its segments), the translator has
to make a choice. The main criterion for this choice is the communicative purpose the client
wants to achieve with the translation (e.g., sell a product, convince the audience of certain
ideas, inform or instract the readers how to use a particular machine, explain the use of a
new technical term, share an aesthetic or emotional experience).
If it is really the receiver who decides on the functionality of a text, there is no garantee
that a text really achieves the communicative purpose for which it is produced. Therefore,
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I propose a basic distinction betweenpurpose or intention, on the one hand, wá function,
on the other. Purpose or intention is defined from the viewpoint of the sender, whereas
function is seenfromthe receivers perspective. In an ideal situation, the sender's intention
willfíndits aim, in which case intention and function would be congruent. But very often,
especially where source and target cultures are separated by a large cultural distance, it is
actually impossible that the sender's intention becomes the text function for the target
readership.
Example 1: 1 Cor 6,9
"Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kindom of God? Be not deceived: neither
fornicators. ñor idolaters, ñor adulterers, ñor effeminate, ñor abusers of themselves with
mankind, ñor thieves, ñor covetous, ñor drunkards, ñor revilers, ñor extortioners, shall inherit
the kingdom of God" (KJV).
"¿No sabéis que los injustos no poseerán el reino de Dios? No os engañéis; ni los fornicarios,
ni los idólatras, ni los adúlteros, ni los afeminados, ni los sodomitas, ni los ladrones, ni los
avaros, ni los ebrios, ni los maldicientes, ni los rapaces poseerán el reino de Dios" (Nácar &
Colunga, 1975).
St. Paul's intention to make bis addressees refrain from whathe catisporneia (which beside
prostitution and sodomy includes also mixed marriages of Christians or Jews with gentiles,
as opposed to the modern usage of the v/otdfornication, cf. DCE, 1978, which refers to
"sexual relations outside marriage") would not reallyfíndits aim in a Christian community
today. Therefore, the function this text can have for modern readers is more or less that of
a historical document informing them about a situation that is completely different from
their own. And even this function is only feasible if the translation clarines what is meant
by fornication or fornicators in St. Paul's cultural situation.
We observe that merely on the grounds of cultural and temporal distance, a text
representing St. Paul's appellative purpose will most probably have a mere informative
function for a modern readership. If a translator (or commissioner) wanted to be "faithful"
to the author's appellative intention, they would have to tbink of other ways to appeal to the
audience's sense of what is right or wrong in sexual relations.
2. The Four-Function Model
2.1. Theoretical points of departure
Various models of text function could serve as points of departure for translator training.
The model proposed here has the advantage of being simple enough to be used in the
translation class and of having a clear focus on translation. It draws on the combination of
two previous models: Karl Bünler's organon model (1934), and Román Jakobson's model
of language functions (1960).
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In his book Theory ofLanguage, the Germán psychologist Karl Bühler regarás the
linguistic sign as a "tool" (in Greek: organon) which can be analysed on the grounds of its
relatíonship with the main factors in communication, as depicted in his famous triangle:
OBJECT OF REFERENCE
(= referential ñinction)
SYMBOL
SIGN
SYMPTOM
STMULUS
SENDER
RECEÍVER
(= expressive function)
(= appellative function)
In Bühler's organon model, the three basic functions of language are the referential
function, where the linguistic sign is a symbol of the object of reference, the expressive
function, where the linguistic sign is a symptom of the sender's state of mind, and the
appellative function, where the linguistic sign serves as a stimulus intended to move the
receiver into some kind of attitude or action. These three basic functions are also present in
Jakobson's model. In addition, however, Jakobson proposes a fourth basic function which
seems to be lacking in Bühler's model: the phatic function, which refers to the
communicative relationship between the sender and the receiver.
We will therefore complete Bühler's triangular model adding Jakobson' s phatic ñinction
as a relationship between the linguistic sign, on the one hand, and the sender-receiver
connection, on the other.
OBJECT OF REFERENCE
(= referential function)
SYMBOL
SIGN
SYMPTOM
STMULUS
SENDER
RECEIVER
(= expressive function)
(= appellative function)
RELATIONSHIP SENDER-RECEIVER
(= phatic function)
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We will now define and describe these ftinctions and some of their sub-functions,
focussing on the way they work in communicative settings both within and across cultures.
2.2. The Referential Functíon
The referential function of an utterance involves reference to the objects and phenomena of
rhe world or of a particular world, perhaps a fictional one. If the referent is a product
unknown to the receiver, the text may describe its technical properties ( = descriptive subfunction); if the referent is a language or a specific use of language, the sub-function may
be metalinguistic; if the referent is the correct way of handling a washing machine, the subfunction may be called directive or instructive, and so on.
BASIC FUNCTION
SUB-FUNCTION
description
Referential function
metalanguage
instruction
information
Table 1: Referential function and some sub-functions
To carry out the referential function, the receiver must be able to coordínate the
message given in the text with the previous knowledge they have about the particular object
in question. If the amount of new information is too large, the receiver will foil to
understand the message; if there is too little new information, the receiver will be bored and
may stop reading or listening altogether. Therefore, senders of referential utterances usually
try to establish the appropriate balance between presupposed and new information.
Example 2: Lu. 6,17;20
And he carne down with them [from the mountain] and stood in the plain, and the company of
his disciples, and a great multitude of people... And he lifted up his eves on his disciples and
said...(KJV).
Bajando con ellos del monte, se detuvo en un rellano, y con Él la numerosa muchedumbre de
sus discípulos y una gran multitud del pueblo... Él, levantando los oios sobre sus discípulos.
decía... (Nácar/Colunga, 1975).
Jesús setzte sich. san seine ... Jünger an und sagte... (Berger/Nord, 1999: Jesús sat down.
looked athis disciples ... and said...).
In the source sulfure, teachers used to be seated while they were teaching. He lifted up his
eyes on his disciples indicates that Jesús is seated and starts teaching, while his disciples are
standing around him. The author assumes this habit to be known by his addressees,
therefore he need not make it explicit. Obviously, the translators of the King James Versión
(like so many other translators) did not bother much about coherence, otherwise they would
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not have translated Pie] stood in theplain —why would Jesús lift up his eyes when he was
standing? The Greek verb used in the original does not specify the body moveraent, like
detenerse in Spanish. Spanish readers might nevertheless find it difficult to imagine Jesús
seated. Berger/Nord, 1999 provide the readers with the information they need to visualize
a coherent scene.
2.3. The Expressive Function
The expressive function refers to the sender's attitutde toward the objects and phenomena
of the wordl. It may be subdivided according to what is expresed. If the sender expresses
individual feelings or emotions, we may speak of an emotive sub-function; if what is
expressed is an evaluation, the sub-function will be evaluative. Another sub-function might
be irony.
BASIC FUNCTION
SUB-FUNCTION
emotion
Referential function
evaluation
irony
Table 2: Expressive function and some sub-functions
The expressive function is sender-oriented. Tf itis verbalized expücitly (e.g., by means
of evaluative or emotive adjectives, as in: Cats are horriblel), the readers will understand
it even when they disagree. But if the evaluation is given implicitly (like in: A cat was sitting
on the doorstep!), it may be difficult to grasp for readers who do not know on which valué
system the utterance is based (is a cat on the doorstep a good or a bad thing?). Many
qualities have different connotations in two different cultures. Sometimes, a translator has
to explicitate an impücit evaluation in order to avoid misinterpretations in the target culture.
Example 3: Jn 1,1-5: Darkness and the Light
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God... .In him
was life and the lite was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness
comprehendeditnot (KJV).
Al principio era el Verbo, y el Verbo estaba en Dios, y el Verbo era Dios. ... En Él estaba la
vida, y la vida era la luz de los hombres. La luz luce en las tinieblas, pero las tinieblas ñola
acogieron (Nácar/Colunga, 1975).
En el principio existía el Verbo, y el Verbo estaba con Dios, y el Verbo era Dios. En él está la
vida, y la vida es la luz de los hombres; la luz luce en las tinieblas y las tinieblas no la sofocaron
(Lamadrid et al., 1964).
Zuerst war das Wort da, Gott nahe und von Gottes Art. Es war am Anfang bei Gott.... In ihm
war das Leben, und das Leben ist Licht tur die Menschen. Das Licht macht die Finsternis hell,
und die Finsternis hat das Licht nicht verschluckt (Berger/Nord, 1999: At first, the Word was
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there, it was next to God and of God's kind. In the beginning it was with God.... In it was life,
and life is light for the humans. The light lightens the darkness, and the darkness has not
swallowed the light).
Verse 5 offers two possible interpretations. Until today, theological scholars have not
agreed on one of them. Both are evaluative, one is metaphorical {darkness [= the worldj
did not understand or accept the role of the light [= JesusJ) and the other one takes the
Greek verb literally {the light was so strong that darkness could not overeóme it, as in
Lamadrid et al., 1964). The metaphorical meaning is rather pessimistic (and thus,
modern!), whereas the literal meaning expresses the confidence of being victorious in the
end. Berger/Nord, 1999 opted for the literal and positive meaning because (a) biblical
language usually tends to be more concrete than what we are aecustomed to; and (b) if you
want to attract people to your cause you would not start telling them that it is not worth the
effort in thefirstplace.
2.4. The Appelíative Function
The appelíative function is directed at the receivers' sensitivity or disposition to act and aims
at inducing the audience to respond in a particular way. If we want to ¡Ilústrate a hypothesis
by an example, we appeal to the readr's previous experience or knowledge; the intended
reaction would be recognition of something known. If we want to persuade someone to do
something or to share a particular viewpoint, we appeal to their sensitivity, their secret
desires. If we want to make someone buy a particular product, we appeal to their real or
imagined needs, describing those qualities of the product that are presumed to have positive
valúes in the receivers' valué system. If we want to make a person do something or refrain
from doing something, we utter a command.
BASIC FUNCTION
SUB-FUNCTION
illustration
Appelative function
persuasión
command
Table 3: Appelíative function and some sub-functions
In the following example, Jesús appeals to the disciples' experience in order to illustrate
his point that their Christian way oflivingmust seta "shining" example to non-Christians.
Example 4: Mt. 5,14-15
Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a
candle and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the
house (KJV).
No one lights a lamp and puts it under a bowl; instead he puts it on the lampstand, where it
gives light for everyone in the house (GNB, 1976).
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Vosotros sois la luz del mundo. No puede ocultarse ciudad asentada sobre un monte, ni se
enciende una lámpara y se la pone bajo el celemín, sino sobre el candelera, para que alumbre
a cuantos hay en la casa (Nácar/Colunga, 1975).
Und wer ein Licht anzündet, wird keinen Topf darüber stülpen, sondern es auf den Leuchter
stellen, damit es alien im Haus hellen Schein gibt (Berger/Nord, 1999: Somebody who lights
a lamp will not put a pot over it but place it on a lampstand to make it give light to everyone in
the house).
The first example (the city on the hill) is rather general and will work with any reader who
knows the difference between hills and plains. The second example cannot achieve its
appeilative function if the reader does not know what a hushel (or a celemín) is and what it
looks like. The dictionary tells us that bushel is a "biblical" word referring to "a measure,
esp. of grain; about 36.5 Htres" (cf. DCE, 1978), but since the utterance is not meant to
offer information about a culture where bushels obviously belonged to the normal
equipment of a household, this definition is not very helpful. Therefore, the Good News
Bible replaces the bushel by a bowl, which makes the appeilative function perfectly clear.
Berger/Nord, 1999 add a tiny detail: If we want to hide a lamp under a pot or a bowl, we
would rather put the receptacle over the lamp instead of placing the lamp under the
receptacle (which has to be lifted and turned around anyway!).
2.5. The Phatic Function
The phatic function aims at establishing, maintaining or ending contact between sender and
receiver and at defining the social role relationship holding between them (e.g., by the
forms of address used or by conventional opening and closing formulas in letters or at the
beginning or end of a lecture).
BASIC FUNCTION
SUB-FÜNCTION
small-talk
Phatic function
saiutation
politeness
Table 4: Phatic function and some sub-funetions
Example 5 :Phil. 1,1-2
Paul and Timotheus... to al! the saints in Christ Jesús which are at Philippi, with the bishops
and deacons. Grace be onto you, and peace from God our Faíher, and from the Lord Jesús
Christ (KJV).
Pablo y Timoteo ... a todos los santos en Cristo Jesús que están en Filipos con los obispos y
diáconos: la gracia y la paz de parte de Dios, nuestro Padre, y deí Señor Jesucristo sea con
vosotros (Nácar/Colunga, 1975).
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Paulus und Timotheus ... schreiben diesen Brief an alie Christen in Philippi, auch an alie, die
dort Aufsicht führen und andere Dienste leisten. Von Gott unserem Vater, und vom Herrn
Jesús Christus geben wir Gnade und Heil an euch weiter (Berger/Nord, 1999: Paul and
Timotheus ... are writing this letter to all Christians atPhilippi, and to all those who are in
charge and who are doing service there. We are passing on to you the mercy and salvation
provided by God, our Father, and our Lord Jesús Christ).
Example 5 shows a salutation which is typical of St. PauFs letters. He addresses the
members of the Christian community as " saints in Christ Jesús", which means Christians.
Verse 2 illustrates the culture-specific concept of the Aposüe's authority to literally pass
God's mercy on to others, which is no longer conveyed by the formulaic "Grace be onto
you ... from God" or "la gracia y la paz de parte de Dios ... sea con vosotros". As far as
forms of address are concerned, Spanish and Germán translators nave to choose between
the formal third person Sieíusted(es) and the informal second person (singular: du/tú;
plural: ihrI vosotros). In Bible translation, it has become conventional to use the informal
forms of address, although this leads to strange ways of behaviour in certain situations.
3. Dealing with Purposes and Functions in Intercultural Communication
In the following section, we will look at what happens to the four basic functions in
intercultural communication.
As we nave seen, the referentialfunction works on the basis of the information explicitly
verbalized in the text plus the information which is not verbalized because it is assumed to
be known to the addressed audience. In face-to-face communication, there may also be
"situational indicators" compensating for any lack of previous knowledge. For example,
there is no need to mention the conditions of time and space or the participants if they are
evident to everybody present in the communicative interaction.
In intercultural communication, the referential intention of the source-text sender can
be interpreted correctly as referential function by the target-text receiver under one of the
following conditions:
if the textual information is sufficiently explicit,
if the object the source-text sender refers to is sufficiently familiar to the target-text
receiver,
if the source-text sender and the target-text receiver share a sufficient amount of knowledge
about the object in question, or
if situational indicators compénsate for information déficits.
If these conditions are not met, the translator has two basic options:
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either to make the ST sender's referential intention work as a meta-referential function for
the TT receiver by giving additional informatíon about the ST situation in a metatext
(e.g., footnote, glossary, foreword);
or to make the ST sender's referential intention work for the target audience, giving
additional information in the text (= expansión) or making the implicit informatíon of
the source text (presuppositions) explicit.
If it is explicit, the expressivefunction works on the basis of evaluative or emotive verbal
or nonverbal elements. If it is implicit, it works on the ground of the valué system and
perspective shared by sender and receiver. In intercultural communication, the source-text
sender's expressive intention can be interpreted correctly as expressive function by the
target-text receiver under one of the following conditions:
if the expressive source-text utterances are explicit, or
if implicitiy expressive source-text utterances refer to valúes shared by the source and the
target culture.
If this is not the case, the translator again has to choose between two strategies:
either to make the ST sender's expressive intention work as a meta-expressive function for
the target audience, which actually means turning it into a referential function by
informing about or explaining the source text's expressivity in metatexts like footnotes
or a foreword,
or to make the ST sender's expressive intention work for the target audience by making
implicit evaluations explicit or by adapting the expressivity markers to íarget-culture
patterns.
The appeüative function works on the basis of common experience, sensitivity, world and
cultural knowledge, emotions, valúes etc. shared by sender and receiver. The receiver must
be able and willing to cooperate to make the appellative function work. In intercultural
communication, the source-text sender's appellative intention can be interpreted correctly
as appellative function by the target-text receiver
if the receivers in the source and the target culture share the experience, sensitivity etc. to
which the source-text sender appeals.
If this is not the case, the translator may choose between three options, two of which
involve a change of function:
either to make the ST sender's appellative intention work as a meta-appellative function for
the target audience by means of explanations or comments in a metatext (which may
Dealing with Purposes in lntercultural Communicatíon
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amount to something like explaining why a joke is funny, but in certain situations this
is what the client wants the translator to do. .)•,
or to make the ST sender's direct appellativity work as indirect appellativity by drawing
the target-culture audience's attention to the analogies between their own situation and
the one described in the text,
or to make the ST sender's appellative intention work as appellative ñinction for the
target audience by adapting it to target-culture functionality conditions or by replacing
source-culture appellative elements with target-culture appellative elements.
The phatic function works on the basis of shared conventions. In face-to-face
communication, "situational indicators" may compénsate for unconventional behaviour if
the situation clearly points to a phatic intention of one of the participants. In intercultural
communication, the phatic intention verbalized in the source text can be interpreted
correctly as phatic function by the target audience under the following conditions:
if the conventions of phatic communication are idéntica! or similar in the source and the
target culture, or
if the phatic intention is clearly indicated by situational clues.
If these conditions are not met, the translator may decide
either to change the phatic into a meta-phatic (= referential) function e.g. by informing
about the phatic markers present in the source text,
or to make the phatic intention work as phatic function for the target audience by replacing
source-culture conventional behaviour patteras with target-culture behaviour patterns.
Analysing the conditions of functionality in intercultural communication we find that the
translator's two basic options correspond to the dichotomies known in translation theory
since the days of Cicero. The following table shows some of them. Type A refers to the
"retrospective" or "source-oriented" strategy of keeping cióse to the source text, thus
inevitably changing the function intended by the source-text author; Type B refers to the
"prospective" or "target-oriented" strategy of adapting the target text to target-culture
conditions in order to make the source-text author's intention or purpose work for the target
audience (cf. Nord, 1997: 4ff).
Author
Type A
Type B
Cicero (106-43 B. C).: De
" [traducere] ut interpres"
" [traducere] ut orator"
óptimo genere oratorum
(transíate like a translator)
(transíate like a rhetorician)
St. Jerome (348-420): Letter " verbum e verbo [exprimere]" " sensum de sensu
toPamachius
(render word for word)
exprimere" (express sense
for sense)
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Martin Luther (1483-1546):
Circular Letter on
Translation, 1530
John Dryden (1631-1700):
Preface to Ovid's Epistle,
1680
Friedrich Schleiermacher
(1768-1834): On the different
methods ofTranslating, 1813
Eugene A. Nida (1964)
JulianeHouse(1977)
ChristianeNord(1989)
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"transíate" (reproduce the
structures and the wording of
the source text)
"metaphrase" (word for word
or line for line)
"Germanize" (i.e. adjustthe
text to the vernacular of the
[Germán] target culture)
"paraphrase" (sense for
sense)
"taking the reader to the
[original] text" (= "Verfremdung", exotization)
"formal equivalence"
(focussing on the source-text
surface structures)
"taking the text to the
reader"
"dynamic/functional
equivalence" (focussing on
the purpose of the sourcetext author)
"overt translation" (for texts
"covert translation" (for
that are bound to a histórica!
texts used in everyday
situation or author)
communication)
"documentary translation"
"instrumental translation"
(subdivided into word-for(subdivided into equifuncword, literal, philological and tional, heterofunctional and
exoticizing translation forms,
homologous translation
according to the purpose of the forms, according to the
translation)
purpose of the translation)
Table 5: Basic translation types
Although the definitions of type A and type B translations vary from one author to
anoíher, it is obvious that this "either-or" is typical of any translation process. Being a
target-language text received under target-culture conditions, a translation cannot be
"feithful" to the linguistic surface structures of the source text and preserve the author's
intention at the same time. What matters, though, is the criterion determining the
translator's decisión. For example: Cicero related the choice between type A and type B
renderings to the role of the translating person ("translator" vs. "rhetorician"), for St.
Jerome it depended on the text type (Holy Scriptures vs. non-biblical literature). Luther
already used a functional criterion ("exact interpretation" vs. "comprehensibility").
In certain cases and within the boundaries of a particular culture, we might speak of
"conventional" relationships between text type and translation type. An operating
instruction, for example, will normally require a type B translation, whereas a marriage
certifícate is usually rendered according to type A. In general térras, however, there is no
rule specifying such a relationsbip. Like other conventions, translational conventions are
arbitrary, culture-specific and may change when they are no longer in keeping with a
changing society. Therefore, trainee translators should be made aware of the íact that there
is usually more than one way to transíate a particular source text. In order to make a
decisión, they have to analyse not only the source text but also the translation brief which
(explicitly or —more often — implicitly) defines the communicative situation for which the
target text is needed.
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4. The Vision of the New Jerusalem as a Case in Point
Except for purely phatic expressions or utterances, texts are rarely monofimctional. As a
rule we fínd hierarchies of purposes that can be identified by analysing verbal or non-verbal
fixnction markers. To illustrate this last point, let us take a look at the "New Jerusalem" as
described by St. John the Divine in the Revelation.
Example 6: Rev. 21,10; 18-21
The wall was made ofjasper, and the city itself was made of puré gold, as clear as glass. The
foundation-stones of the city wall were adorned with all kinds of precious stones. The first
foundation-stone was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, the fifth
onyx, the síxth carnelian, the seventh yellow quartz, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth
chalcedony, the eleventh turquoise, the twelfth amethyst. The twelve gates were twelve pearls;
each gate was made from a single pearl. The street of the city was of puré gold, transparent as
glass (GNB, 1976).
Su muro era de jaspe, y la ciudad oro puro, semejante al vidrio puro; y las hiladas del muro de
la ciudad eran de todo género de piedras preciosas: la primera, de jaspe; la segunda, de zafiro;
la tercera, de calcedonia; la cuarta, de esmeralda; la quinta, de sardónica; la sexta, de
cornalina; la séptima, de crisólito; la octava, de berilo; la novena, de topacio; la décima, de
crisoprasa; la undécima, de jacinto, y la duodécima, de amatista. Las doce puertas eran doce
perlas, cada una de la puertas era de una perla, y la plaza de la ciudad era de oro puro, como
vidrio transparente (Nácar/Colunga, 1975).
One of the purposes is certainly a referential-descriptive one. St. John sees the city in a
visión and describes what he has seen to his readers. For a reader who is an expert in
precious stones (and knows what they were like in a certain period in Palestine), this text
is a (technical) description which fulfils a referential-descriptive function. But beside the
referential purpose, the author may nave had the intention to express his admiration for the
beauty of the city he has seen. On the grounds of the assumption that his addressees knew
the colours of all the stones he is describing, the author need not mention them explicitly.
And if we want the target audience to share the author's admiration of the beauty and
colourfulness of his visión, we would nave to explicitate what is implicit in the text.
The city wall is made of jasper, and the city itself of gold that is as puré as glass. The
foundations of the city wall are ofereat beauty. for they are built out of precious stones in many
different colours. The first foundation-stone is jasper, the second blue sapphire, the third red
agate, the fourth light green emerald, the fifth reddish brown onyx, the sixth vellowish red
carnelian, the seventh vellow-gold quartz, the eighth beryl asgreenasthesea. the ninth shining
yellow topaz, the tenth chalcedony, shimmering green-golden. the eleventh deep red turquoise,
the twelfth purple amethyst. The twelve gates are twelve pearls, each gate is made from a single
pearl. The main street of the city is of gold as puré as glass (Berger/Nord, 1999, translated into
English).
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But even the expressive purpose may not be the most important one. Tbis visión is presented
at the end of last book of our Bible, following the horrors of the apopcalypse, No matter
whether it was the intention of the author or of those who composed the canon, the visión
of the New Jerusalem seems to be the absolute culmination of the Christian message. We
may assume, therefore, that there is also an appellative purpose underlying the text, since
it presents the ideal of God's new creation, for which a large number of martyrs through
History were prepared to give their lives. An appellative intention cannot be canied out by
a technical description —for this purpose, we definitely need to know the colours.
Somebody has compared the picture presented by the Berger/Nord translation with a kind
of "Disneyland"—too many different colours, too much light. The criticism shows a
difference in aesthetic valué systems: the critic carne from Finland. What is regarded as
beautiful in one culture need not be judged the same way in another. Just think of the
colourful attire of Latín American indians or Africans! Maybe the love for "loud" colours
comes along with hot enmates and spicy food. A Germán girl said she did not find the New
Jerusalem very attractive because it seemed so cold to her with all the gold and precious
stones. Again, this may be due to a difference in valué systems: For Germans,
"Gemütlichkeit" (an untranslatable concept denoting warmth and cosiness) is a highly rated
valué in terms of housing and privacy.
Another appellative element is the comparison: puré gold ais clear as glass. Some
translations speak of "gold that is transparentas glass". This seems puzzling: How can gold
be transparent? There again we have to think of the culture in which the comparison is used.
At that time, gold was usually alloyed with other metáis, such as copper. Puré gold was as
rare and precious as puré glass. The tertium comparationis is nottranspareney butpureness.
Puré gold (like puré glass) is particulary shining in a Palestinian sun.
The example shows that the three functions (referential, expressive, and appellative) are
interlinked. If the text is to achieve the intended functions for a central European audience
of our time, the translator has to choose the translation strategy carefully. There is no point
in adapting the description of the New Jerusalem to the target-culture tastes and valué
systems, if the rest of the New Testamenttells us a story from a strange and distant culture.
So it would have to be a type-A translation. However, if the intention is to make the reader
understand the appellativity of the message, the strangeness of the source culture has to be
made accessible. This is what Berger/Nord cali "Otherness Understood" (= Verstandene
Fremdheit, cf. Berger/Nord, 1999: 22ff).. In terms of my typology, the translation is an
exoticizing translation of the documentary type (cf. Nord, 1997: 49f).
5. Conclusión
Functionalism is widely seen as appealing to common sense —although many people think
that the ñeld where it is most useftil is that of "professional translation" in the sense of
translation of computer manuals, operating instractions, technical descriptions, and
commercial correspondence. If the source text is no longer regarded as the only yardstick,
Dealing with Purposes in Intercultural Communication
165
the other pole —the participante and conditions of the target situation— must naturally come
more into focus. In ordere to emphasize this change of perspective, functionalists nave
probably insisted more on cases where adaptive procedures ensure the functionality of the
original than on all the other cases where documentary translation forms are called for. This
may have produced the impression that functionalist models in general, or Skopostheorie
in particular, are mainly models of adaptation. Yet this impression is really no more than
a form of "selective reception", a quite normal process whereby, confronted by a large offer
of information, we pay attention to only those items that succeed in awaking our interest or
our disapproval. As has been shown above, the functional approach accounts for all sorts
of both documentary and instrumental modes of translation. To illustrate this point, I have
used examples from the translation of Biblical texts, and I hope to have shown that the
criteria of functionality can be applied even to this highly sensitive field.
Works Cited
Berger, Klaus and C. Nord (1999a): Das Neue Testament und frühchristliche Schriften, neu
übersetzt und kominentiert von Klaus Berger und Christiane Nord. Frankturt/Main: Insel
Verlag.
Bühler, Karl (1934): Sprachtheorie. Jena: Fischer.
Catford, J.C. (1965): A Linguistic Theory of Translation, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Cicero, Marcus Tuillius (46 B.Q.: De óptimo genere oratorum, English translation by H. M.
Hubbell. London: Heinemann, 1959 (= Loeb Classical Library).
DCE: Dictionary of Contemporary English. London: Langenscheidt-Longman.
Dryden, John (1680): "Preface to Ovid's Epistles, Translatedby Several Hands", in: Ofdramatic
poesy, ed. George Watson. London: Dent, 1962.
GNB: Good News Bible (Today's English Versión, 1976), publ. by The Bible Societies. Glasgow:
Collins.
House, Juliane (1977): A Modelfor Translation Quality Assessment. Tübingen: Narr.
Jakobson, Román (1960): "Linguistics and Poetics". In Thomas A. Senbeok, ed., Style in
Language. Cambridge Mass.: MIT Press, 350-377.
KJV: The Holy Bible containing the Oíd and New Testaments (s.a)., transí, out of tjhe original
tongues and with the former translations diligently compared and revised by His Majesty's
specialcommand, Cambridge: University Press.
Lamadrid, Antonio G. & Juan Francisco Hernández, Evaristo Martín Nieto, Manuel Revuelta
Sañudo (1964): La Santa Biblia, traducida de los textos originales, 18 edición, Madrid:
Ediciones Paulinas.
Luther, Martin (1530): "Sendbrief vom Dolmetschen", reproduced in Hans-Joachim Storig (ed)
Das Problem des Übersetzens, Darmstadt: Wiss. buchgesellschaft, 1963.
Nácar Fuster, Eloíno & Alberto Colunga, O.P. (1975): Sagrada Biblia, versión directa de las
a
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LENGUAS originales, 4 edición (I ed. 1970), Madrid: Editorial Católica (= Biblioteca de
Autores Cristianos).
Nida, Eurene A. (1964): Towarda Science ofTranslating. With specialreferencetoprincipies and
procedures involved in Bible translating, Leiden: Brill.
Nord, Christiane (1989): "Loyalitát statt Treue: Vorschlage zu einer funktionalen Übersetzungstypologie". Lebende Sprachen 34: 100-105.
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(1997): Translating as a Purposeful Activity. Functionalist Approaches Explained.
Manchester: St. Jerome (Translation Theories Explained, 1).
Vermeer, Hans J. (1978): Ein rahmen für eine allgemeine translationstheorie, Nachdruck. In Hans
J. Vermeer (1983): Aufsatzezur Translationstheorie, Heidelberg: Selbstverlag, 48-61.